Generate/ERILOGO1.gif About ERI Disclaimer

Iceland - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Reykjavik

 

CLIMATE

Temperate. Moderated by North Atlantic Current. Mild, windy winters and damp, cool summers.

 

LANGUAGES

Icelandic

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Civil law system based on Danish law. Iceland does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Iceland Krona (1 USD = 100.310 ISK as of March 15, 2002)

 

ICELAND - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

ICELAND - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Reykjavik

Laufasvegur 21

101 Reykjavik Iceland

PSC 1003, Box 40

APO AE 09728-0340

Reykjavik, Iceland

Telephone: (354) 5629100

Fax: (354) 5629123

E-mail: public-affairs@usa.is

http://www.usa.is/

 

Embassy of Iceland at Washington D.C.

1156 15th Street N.W., Suite 1200

Washington D.C. 20005-1704

Telephone: (202) 265-6653

Fax: (202) 265-6656

http://www.iceland.org/us/

 

ICELAND - HOLIDAYS

 

ICELAND - MINIMUM AGE

The law prohibits the employment of children younger than age 16 in factories, on ships, or in other places that are hazardous or require hard labor.

 

Children 14 or 15 years old may be employed part time or during school vacations in light, nonhazardous work. Their work hours must not exceed the ordinary work-hours of adults in the same occupation.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Iceland – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

ICELAND - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

No minimum wage is mandated by law, but the minimum wages negotiated in various collective bargaining agreements apply automatically to all employees in those occupations, whether they are union members or not.

 

Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Iceland – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.

 

ICELAND - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

ICELAND - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Workers make extensive use of the right provided by the Constitution to establish unions, draw up their own constitutions and rules, choose their own leaders and policies, and publicize their views. The resulting organizations are independent of the Government and political parties. Approximately 85 percent of all eligible workers belong to unions.

 

With the exception of limited categories of workers in the public sector whose services are essential to public health or safety, unions have the right to strike. During the year, there were minor strikes by air traffic controllers, hospital nurses, nurse assistants, physical therapists, municipal employees, and music teachers. In April and May, there was also a 6-week seamen's strike, which brought the fishing industry to a standstill. Concerned about the strike's effect on the economy, Parliament passed a law in May ordering the seamen to return to work and providing that the dispute be referred to binding arbitration. The arbitration panel handed down its decision in June, which was accepted by all parties (see Section 6.b.).

 

Unions are permitted to affiliate internationally, and they take active part in Nordic, European, and other international trade union bodies.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Union membership is not impeded by law or practice. Employers are required to withhold union dues (1 percent of gross pay) from the pay of all employees, whether or not they are union members, to help support, among other benefits, disability, strike, and pension funds to which all workers are entitled.

   

The various trade unions and management organizations periodically negotiate collective bargaining agreements that set specific terms for workers' pay, hours, and other conditions. Collective bargaining agreements were negotiated in 2000, and most will expire in either 2003 or 2004. The Government played only a minor role in the bargaining process, providing mediation assistance in a few cases (through the State Mediator's Office) while generally encouraging wage restraint to limit inflation. The new contracts provide that if inflation exceeds expectations during the first year, the unions have the right to seek renegotiation of the wage terms.

 

The Icelandic Federation of Labor (IFL) filed lawsuits in June and again in November charging that Parliament's intervention in the fish industry strike violated the seamen's constitutional rights to associate freely and to bargain collectively (see Section 6.a.). The case was ongoing at year's end. In December the IFL also filed a complaint about the Government's action with the International Labor Organization.

 

Labor courts effectively adjudicate disputes over contracts and over the rights provided for under the law, which prohibits antiunion discrimination. By law employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are required to reinstate workers fired for union activities; however, in practice the charges often are difficult to prove.

 

There are no export processing or other special economic zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law; however, some women reportedly were trafficked into the country to work as striptease dancers or prostitutes (see Sections 5 and 6.f.). In addition work permit practices left newly arrived foreign workers vulnerable to abuse by employers (see Section 6.e.).

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children, and there were no reports that such practices occur.

  

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The law prohibits the employment of children younger than age 16 in factories, on ships, or in other places that are hazardous or require hard labor; this prohibition is observed in practice. Children 14 or 15 years old may be employed part time or during school vacations in light, nonhazardous work. Their work hours must not exceed the ordinary work-hours of adults in the same occupation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces child labor regulations effectively.

  

The Government ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor in 2000, and it entered into force in May.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children, and such practices are not known to occur (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

No minimum wage is mandated by law, but the minimum wages negotiated in various collective bargaining agreements apply automatically to all employees in those occupations, whether they are union members or not. Labor contracts afford even the lowest paid workers a sufficient income for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families.

 

Workers are protected by laws that effectively provide for their health and safety as well as for unemployment insurance, paid vacations, pensions, and reasonable working conditions and hours. The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, which includes nearly 3 hours of paid breaks per week. Work exceeding 8 hours in a workday must be compensated as overtime. Under changes that took effect during 2000, workers are entitled to 11 hours of rest (up from 10 hours previously) within each 24-hour period and to a day off every week. Under defined special circumstances, the 11-hour rest period can be reduced to 8 hours, but workers must then be compensated with 1.5 hours of rest for every hour received less than 11 hours. The day off can be postponed by a week, in which case the worker has a right to 2 additional hours off in the following week. Health and safety standards are set by Parliament and administered and enforced by the Ministry of Social Affairs through its Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which can and does close down workplaces until safety and health standards are met. Workers have a collective, not an individual, right to refuse to work in a place that does not meet the criteria of occupational safety and health. Firing workers who report unsafe or unhealthy conditions is illegal.

 

Human rights monitors expressed concern that in the case of newly arrived foreign workers or refugees (i.e., those who have been in the country for less than 3 years), the Government's practice of issuing applicable work permits to the employer rather than to the employee has left the worker vulnerable to abuse by the employer in some instances (see Section 5).

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in persons, although a number of legal provisions may be used to prosecute such cases; trafficking was suspected in connection with the hundreds of foreign women who entered the country to work in striptease clubs. The main concern was that some of the women, especially those from Eastern and Central Europe, were being brought to Iceland under false pretenses and then coerced to work as striptease dancers or prostitutes. While most attention has been focused on Iceland as a possible destination point for trafficked women, there were some cases during the year that indicated that the country was also being used as a transit point for the movement of trafficked women between mainland Europe and North America. There were no reliable estimates on how many women this may involve.

 

In May, for the first time, formal charges of coercion were filed against a club. Four striptease dancers from Estonia told police that a club owner had pressured them into prostitution. Two Danish dancers lodged a similar complaint against the same employer. As of year's end, the cases remained under investigation, and no arrests had been made.

 

Parliament passed legislation in 2000 that closed a loophole that allowed striptease dancers to enter the country and perform without a work permit for up to 4 weeks under an exemption given for "artists." Any foreigner (except those from the European Economic Area) seeking to come to the country to work as a striptease dancer must first obtain a work permit, which is typically valid for 3 months. However, the Government has not yet put any numerical limits or other controls on the issuance of work permits for foreign striptease dancers. The clubs are allowed to bring in as many dancers as they want.

 

For the first several months that the new system was in place, the IFL vetted the work permit applications of foreign striptease dancers and ensured that their contracts afforded the minimal labor protections. However, the IFL announced in March that it would no longer take part in this process. Citing the suspicious circumstances under which these dancers come and work in Iceland, the IFL said it did not want to assist unwittingly in human trafficking. However, the Directorate of Labor decided that under the existing law, it had no choice but to continue issuing the work permits, even without the review of the IFL.

 

Human right monitors were critical of the fact that the striptease clubs continued to operate with few, if any, restrictions on their operations. There are no regulations, for example, mandating a minimal distance between dancers and patrons. A study on prostitution, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and released in March, concluded that organized prostitution existed at some, if not all, of the striptease clubs. In the absence of national legislation, some municipalities have taken action on their own to prohibit the opening of striptease clubs within their jurisdictions. The City of Reykjavik was moving to restrict the location of new clubs to designated areas only. However, the changes were not expected to be retroactive and would not affect the existing clubs, most of which were located downtown.

 

Victims may seek assistance at the women's shelter, counseling center, and hospital, which are all government funded (see Section 5).

 

 

ICELAND - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

ICELAND - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, which includes nearly 3 hours of paid breaks per week. Work exceeding 8 hours in a workday must be compensated as overtime.

 

Under changes that took effect during 2000, workers are entitled to 11 hours of rest (up from 10 hours previously) within each 24-hour period and to a day off every week. Under defined special circumstances, the 11-hour rest period can be reduced to 8 hours, but workers must then be compensated with 1.5 hours of rest for every hour received less than 11 hours. The day off can be postponed by a week, in which case the worker has a right to 2 additional hours off in the following week.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Iceland – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)